Waters Edge

Chapter Fourteen: Moon Beams and Fallen Dreams

I wish for death in that moment to take me before they take Patrick because I know whoever is coming down that hallway will take him away from me, I will never see him again. I pull back and touch his cheek softly the tears still fall as I lean in and kiss his cold lips. Rest my forehead against his and close my eyes. This is it. I brace for something to happen a gun to the back of my head or eternal darkness to swallow me whole. Then I feel something.

My eyes shoot open when I feel Patrick's hand come up and touch the side of my face. I must be dead. That is the only way this could be happening. Patrick looks at me and points to the sky and I glance up in confusion at the night sky above us.

"The moon," he rasps and suddenly sits up I fall back in confusion and look to see people sprinting toward us. My mouth gapes open like a fish as Patrick begins pulling himself up the ladder. I don't hesitate before I begin to climb as well. My muscles burn as I haul myself up the iron bars to the surface. About halfway up I look down to see multiple men trying to scramble up after us.

"Patrick come on go faster!" I yelp and we scramble the rest of the way up and I slam the cover grate to the ladder shut and clamp the lock into place. I let out a breath to see we are on the main deck, Patrick is laying beside me staring up at the moon and he looks like he is about to float away on me. I grab him under his arms and use all of the rest of my strength to drag him to the edge of the boat, I look down over the edge and gulp.

It is a good twenty plus foot drop. I take a deep breath and help him up onto the railing, he sits there for a moment and licks his dry lips, I find myself mirroring the action as his sea-blue eyes gaze into mine full of fear. I take in a deep breath and then shove him off the side of the boat. He screams, hands reaching out to me but grasping nothing but air as he plummets down into the dark waters and creates a large splash when he hits the surface of the water.

I swing one leg over the side of the boat and take a deep breath. I hear someone yell and my head snaps over toward the sound, I see Andy holding a gun pointing it directly at my head. I gulp and just as he opens his mouth to yell something else I launch myself over the side of the boat. A gunshot rings out and I scream as pain shoots through my leg just as I hit the water.

It knocks the air out of me and I hear something crack. I curl in on myself shock runs through me as the freezing cold water swallows me whole. I feel like something is broken, I can feel hot liquid seeping out from the wound in my leg. I try to swim to the surface but my arms can't move, my whole body feels like a dead weight as my muscles seize and spasm uselessly. A sense of Deja-vu hits me as I start sinking down in the water. For a terrifying moment, the darkness seems to collapse in on me, I can't see anything and the last of my breath bubbles from my mouth as I claw uselessly at the water like a heavy blanket smothering me to death.

Then I feel a pair of arms wrap around me and I instantly feel at ease. I close my eyes and relax into him. I can't see but I know it is Patrick, he spins me around and I wrap myself around him and he takes off through the water.

When we resurface I gasp in a giant lungful of air and cough. Pain radiates all through my body but Titan is nowhere to be seen. I let out a laugh and splash around in the water. "Oh, my go we are alive! Patrick," I smile and grab his cheeks, "Were alive!" I hear Patrick let out a slight laugh as I pull him into a kiss my lips are freezing and so are his but I run my hands through his wet hair and press myself flush against him wrapping my legs around his waist. One of his hands lands on my hip and the other cradles the back of my neck and he emits a small whine from the back of his throat when I pull away grinning. I hug him close and he holds me gently. "How, how did you do that Patrick?" I lean back so I can look him in the eye and he smiles and points up to the moon. I follow his finger and crinkle my brow in confusion.

"Well it kind of stupid but the moon, she controls the ocean and all its things. She gives power to all," he smiles up at the moon and I just gaze at his face. He looks just as beautiful as the day we first met. His pale skin glows softly under the faint light from the moon his angelic features highlighted in the white glow of the night, his eyes looking even more piercing, his sandy blonde hair now appearing a much darker brown as it sticks wetly to his forehead and I have never seen anything more beautiful than him at this moment. When he looks back at me I kiss him again out in the middle of the ocean under the moonlight.

We break apart after a minute and he wraps his arms slightly tighter around me. "Now where to Pete?" He asks and the smile drops off my face where do I go now? If I return to Pelican island Andy will surely find us again, but the money he gave me perhaps that might still be there. I wonder how I could get to it and get back to Patrick. Where could we go? A private island of our own, a place where it could just be us and not a care in the world. I gaze at him and know that no one could ever compare to him, my heart flutters when he crinkles his brow wondering the answer to his question. I just gaze at him star struck by the beauty in front of me and I know that no matter where I go as long as he is there I will be happy.

"Run away with me," I whisper and he lets out a giggle and for a moment I think I might be having a heart attack at how beautiful that noise is. I rest my chin on his shoulder and ponder over what our options could be but then my eyes catch movement in the water behind us surging toward us. My hazy mind puts two and two together and I start shrieking.

A grey fin is speeding toward us, Patrick cranes his neck around to see. "Patrick move!" I yell detaching myself from him and pushing him out of the way just as the thing barrels into me. I scream as it sucks me under, my last sight being Patrick's shocked face as I get pulled under water. I can tell we go deep underwater, the pressure crushes down on my chest and I feel like I can't breathe as we plunge into darkness. Then the thing is pushed off me and I try to gasp for air but my lungs flood with water I choke as arms wrap around me and we shoot upwards.

We breach the surface of the waves and I cough as my lungs burn, my energy feels drained and my eyes droop. I just want to fall asleep. A hand grips my chin and I wince and cry out weakly.

"Stay with me, Pete. Do not fall sleep." Patrick begs and I slump against him. I feel light headed, I do a mental once over and nothing hurts more than it already did so I am either in shock or that shark didn't get a chance to take a chunk out of me. So then what the hell was that thing? Patrick lets go of me and I tread water weakly and then just float on my back for a moment.

I look over and see a flash of Patrick's blue scales and there is water flying everywhere hitting me in the face and I panic fearing the worst before I hear what Patrick is yelling.

"You dirty down right rotten barnacle!" He laughs and the splashing stops he swims up to me and this time is followed by someone else. He holds onto me protectively shooting an uneasy glance back to the new member of our late-night swim. I squint and gasp.

Another merman, his scales shining a deep forest green treads water next to us. My eyes widen as I take in the sight of him. He wears a severed sharks head and fin like a hat and is eyeing me up like he wants to eat me. He has dark blonde hair that might be the same shade as Patrick's when it is dry and his eyes are a dark grey color that they almost appear black under the light of the night sky.

"Pete this my brother."